Best SM57 angles on 1x12" combo cabs for "open" or "natural" sound?

[rememberduane]

Not looking for a super tight recorded sound, but all I have with me here is an SM57 (my condenser is back at home, I'm at university). I like something that sounds a bit more natural, almost an in the room sound, but still not with natural room verb or a "distant" sound. I was thinking like an inch from the grille cloth, over the dust cap but facing at a 30 degree angle away from it. I know this will get me quite a bit of highs and presence, but oh well.

 

Maybe I should just wait until the cab/speakers/tubes get here and I can experiment. Just looking for a few new starting points is all.

[Big Hair]

I find that each cab/speaker performs slightly differently. I usually mark with masking tape the area which I prefer and then write on an approximate angle for easy future use.

For instance I much prefer GBs to be mic'd at an angle of what you say, maybe about 30 deg pointing towards the centre. I'm never a fan of centre straight on. V30s are different though, so it just depends on the sound you are going for and the speaker

[dropthisd]

First buy some white thread. Then tape off four 2 1/2" grids, over the center region, of the speaker. The total square will be 5"x5". This will make it easier to repeat and try different locations as you experiment. The sm57 isn't very natural sounding mic, especially by itself. You're better off getting another mic to contrast the 57.

[The Evil Dr. X]

One thing I found was; if you record a piece, make sure you are happy with it before you move the mic. It seems just a very small movement makes it hard to punch in and out seamlessly.